Just Another Night
by Inundation
Summary: Al reminisces about the past after Ed falls asleep. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all of its characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa.

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"If he keeps staying up this late, he's not gonna get up in the morning..." Al dropped his brother gently on his makeshift bed. They had no clock, but Al was pretty sure it was at least midnight. He'd noticed that lately Ed would stay up until he could barely keep his eyes open, and Al would have hit him for it if he didn't care about waking him up. It was obvious that he was trying to keep Al company, but considering that he was sleeping for the both of them it wasn't worth it in the long run anyway.

That isn't to say, though, that Al wanted to be alone again that night. He moved to the corner of the room, looking around for something to entertain his mind, and keep his memories at bay. He thought of counting tiles on the ceiling, but when he looked up he noticed that the room was so dark that he couldn't see it. All he could see was Ed's discarded jacket, and the boy himself already in deep sleep.

Even when they were living with their mother in Resembool, Ed would fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. It made sense, he was always full of energy during the day, and he put it to use. On top of that, normal games never seemed to be good enough for him, so he was always inventing in his own games. Or rather, re-inventing old, "boring" games.

One time, he'd sat down Al and Winry in front of him to announce one such game: Ultimate Tag. Ed was looking proud of himself, but Al was already sceptical of his idea by the name he'd given it. That scepticism only grew as Ed began explaining the rules. "The person who's 'it' has to spin around twelve times in one spot, while the others run away as far as they can! Whoever gets tagged has to run to the apple tree, climb up three branches, and then they can tag someone else!"

Winry knitted her eyebrows, and said what Al was thinking, "Can't we just play normal tag?"

"No way! That's way too simple," Ed shouted, pointing at her harshly.

Both Winry and Al sighed, Ed was determined to play this game, so there was no use trying to fight it. Before long, Ed was chasing them like mad, but he couldn't seem to decide who his victim would be. But, when Winry had decided to hide behind a sleeping Den when Ed's back was turned, he put all of his energy into catching Al. His sudden burst of speed took Al by surprise, and in an instant Ed's hand poked at his shoulder. "You're it!"

Al ran as fast as he could to the apple tree, and he could already hear Ed's maniacal laughter getting further away, along with a giggling Winry. He pulled himself up on to the first branch, and stood on his toes to reach the next, when all of a sudden he heard an odd noise. By the time he realized it was the _crack_ of the branch that he had just grabbed onto, he was already falling.

The next thing he knew, Ed and Winry were sitting over him, frantically yelling at him, and his head hurt like crazy. He sat up, clutching his head and struggling to keep himself from crying.

Winry started scanning the back of Al's head for a bump, and when she found it she couldn't stop the sympathetic hiss that escaped her lips. "Just wait here, I'll go get your Mom!" In a flash she was gone, and Al noted in the back of his mind that she was running a lot faster than she was during the game.

"Um," Ed started, poking his finger into the dirt, "Sorry. Every time I make up the game it seems like you get hurt somehow..." Al was about to protest, but Ed continued, "Next time you can choose the game, okay?" Ed attempted to pat Al's head in comfort, but all he managed to do was hit the bump. "Gah! Sorry, Al!"

Al winced, but he turned his head to his brother and smiled, "Fine, but we're gonna play a normal game, then."

--

A bird chirped outside, and suddenly Al noticed that he had spent the entirety of that night reminiscing. As he watched his brother's sleeping form roll from side to side, he thought that he wouldn't mind hurting himself another thousand times if it meant he could feel Ed's comforting hand on his head just once more.


End file.
